warriorsfanficfandomcom-20200213-history
Heart of Ash
Heart of Ash is a story by IcewrathXFeatherswirlXCraneheart for Tanglefrost101's contest. Chapter 1 A heart of ash... A heart of ash... Ashstone awoke, chasing away the faint echoes of his warrior ceremony moons ago. It still haunted him. He could still feel the way Hawkstar's cold, mocking gaze fixed on him. How his pelt had prickled under it, nervously waiting to recieve what cruel name awaited him. Ashstone had been a weak apprentice, spindly and uncoordinated. The apprentices had made fun of him, except for the ones like him. But it was the young, runt-of-the-litter Ashpaw that had held a special place in Hawkstar's heart, which wasn't good in his case. He knew why, too. Hawkstar had been in love with Ashstone's mother, Cherrywing, but instead, Ashstone's father, Braveheart, had swept her off her paws. Hawkstar had wanted vengeance on them and ''their kits. Mostly, Ashstone got picked on because he was the runt... and since he did everything wrong in everyone's eyes, so Hawkstar could get away with it. ''He remembered sitting, scared out of his mind, his siblings and parents sitting off to the side. His siblings had already gotten their warrior names moons earlier, Snaketail, Poppyflight, and Barkpelt. His parents were silently reassuring him, as if saying that if their names weren't bad, his might not be either. Then, Hawkstar gazed down on him, a cold glimmer in his eyes. He opened his mouth and out came the words that would scar him forever, "Ahhh, yes, ''Ashpaw.... No matter how many moons he stayed in training... he never got any better, but our fifteen moon old apprentice has been in training too long. Ashpaw do you promise to uphold the warrior code at the cost of your life? Not that it will take long..."'' Ashpaw had shivered and mewed timidly, "I... I do." More claws tumbled from the mouth of the leader', "Ashpaw, from this moment forward, you will now will be know as Ashstone, for the small stone one dares call a brain in your head and your heart of ash!" Heart of ash... Heart of ash... Heart of ash... He blinked, coming out of his flashback. He flicked his scarred ears, as if it would clear his mind. He winced as he remembered how he got those scars. Hawkstar had not only been the leader who gave him his name, but his mentor. I wonder what kind of day this will be, ''he thought in despair. He dreaded each day with every part of him. One day, Hawkstar could work him all day on useless, back-breaking tasks, and the next be confined to camp. The camp was boring. He couldn't chat, for he had no friends. ''It's like I'm waiting for my life to be over... ''he thought, laying back down. ''I have no purpose... That one thought bounced around his head, echoing there, and it left a scar on whatever it touched. The echo still remaining, Ashstone finally fell into a fitful sleep. Chapter 2 Ashtone awoke in a strange place. It seemed as if he was between the sun and moon, between day and night. To his left, was a dark gloomy place, misted over by black fog and littered with rotten toadstools. Dark eyes peered out at him, glowing with something sinister. On his opposite side, was light and stars, with bright mist and shining eyes. Both of these places collided abruptly on an invisible border, where Ashstone stood, and the mix of the brightest light and the gloomiest dark almost blinded his amber eyes. "Welcome, Ashstone," one she-cat stepped from the ranks of the bright place, a tom echoing her every step. As he studied them closely, as he always did strange cats, he felt a spark of something familiar. He turned his attention to the she-cat. She was an elegant ginger she-cat with a white paw and green eyes. Her tail was bushy and the green eyes shone with wisdom and sadness. As her gentle gaze beamed on him, he felt pleasure and... love? He couldn't tell. Ashstone began to study the tom. He had broad shoulders, brown tabby fur, and amber eyes. Feelings of hate flooded him, again without reason. Why am I feeling these emotions? Why do they seem familiar? ''questions flew through Ashstone's head at a stunning rate. He went with the simplest first. "Where am I?" he asked, his voice coated with fear. "You are on the border between StarClan and the Dark Forest," the tom mewed curtly, his amber eyes glowing with recognition. "Hawkstar killed me in my sleep, didn't he?" his mew was hoarse, feeling bitter bile crawl up his throat. "No," the she-cat spoke up. "Then, who are you, and why am I here?" he asked. "I am Squirrelstar," the she-cat mewed. "I am Bramblestar," the tom answered. The names sparked something unknown in him, each name getting a different reaction. "I was the ThunderClan leader long ago," the cat named Bramblestar meowed, his amber eyesclouding wioth memory as Ashstone listened, "I became leader after Firestar died in the battle between the Dark Forest and StarClan." Ashstone nodded. He had heard of the great leader, Firestar. ''There he is! ''he spotted the ginger tom sitting next to a blue-gray she-cat. ''Bluestar! ''he recognized her immediately, knowing from the stories how close she was to Firestar, and what she looked like. "Anyway, my mate, Squirrelflight was my deputy, and we served ThunderClan for many seasons. We both decided that we wanted to retire to the elders' den, and that Lionblaze, or now Lionstar, was to be the new leader, but I lost my ninth life to greencough," Bramblestar continued. "I took his place, and served for a long time after, then I lost my last life in a battle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan," Squirrelstar finished. "What do you two have to do with me?" Ashstone demanded. "You once played a very big role in my life..." Squirrelstar mewed. "Our lives," Bramblestar confirmed. "How? I wasn't even born!" Ashstone asked, his mouth going dry. "You are the reincarnation of someone..." Squirrelstar stammered, glancing up at Bramblestar. "You are the reincarnation of Ashfur," Bramblestar stated. Chapter 3 Ashstone's world swirled, and he planted all four paws into the ground so he wouldn't fall over. ''How could I be a reincarnation? ''he asked himself. He looked at himself, to see if he was really there. He saw the same dark gray legs that he had always had. "And... who is Ashfur?" he gulped, fearing the answer. "Ashfur was a ThunderClan warrior long ago, loyal and skilled. He even looked like you. He had one sister, but he had lost his mother to a dog pack, which was devastating for him. There was something missing though, and he knew what it was. It was me...." Squirrelstar mewed, her voice thick with sorrow, "Ashfur fell in love with me... and there was a time when I thought that I loved him back. I still cared a lot for him, but I chose Brambleclaw as my final decision." Bramblestar nodded, signalling for Squirrelstar to continue. "My sister, Leafpool, our medicine cat, had kits with Crowfeather, a WindClan cat. She gave them to me so she wouldn't lose her medicine cat position," Squirrelstar continued, "I kept them as my own until there was a fire in ThunderClan's camp and my foster kits, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather were trapped. I pushed a branch to them so they could climb out,but Ashfur blocked the way. He told me how he felt about me choosing Brambleclaw and how much it hurt. He revealed that he helped plot getting Firestar caught in a fox trap and how he was going to kill my kits. In order to keep them alive, I had to tell Ashfur that they weren't mine. He planned to tell the Clan, but he died before he could." "He slipped into the stream and cut himself," Bramblestar explained quickly. "Inevitably, I had to tell them who their real parents were," Squirrelstar explained, "That caused a rift in our relationships. Even though Ashfur wasn't alive to tell the Clans, Hollyleaf did. Brambleclaw got angry at me, and it was all just horrible." Ashstone sat in shock, his eyes and mouth wide open, ''How could I be a reincarnation of such a monster? "If Ashfur hadn't have tried to kill off Squirrelstar's family for what he did, none of this would have ever happened. Even though we all forgave each other in the end, it would have saved a lot of trouble," Bramblestar sighed. (TBC) Category:IcewrathxFeatherswirlxCraneheart's fanfics Category:Fan Fictions Category:Contest Entries